NASA research pilot and former astronaut Rick Searfoss signs posters for Che Edoga, Paulette Donald and Lillian Rodela. NASA Photo / Tom Tschida

Teachers take Dryden to inner city schools

Maribel Gutierrez
Flyer Editor

Teachers from inner-city schools in Los Angeles recently found inspiration through hands-on activities, tours of facilities and interaction with NASA professionals that will help them integrate NASA projects into lessons on math, science and technology. What teachers learned will also help students see relevance of their learning to their everyday lives and that they have career options if they excel in these subject areas.

At the week-long Dryden Science Ambassadors workshop Nov. 4-8, teachers also learned how to use materials NASA produces with their lesson plans. They saw first-hand how math and science are used in careers such as engineering and science. It is these experiences combined with NASA materials and lesson plans that many teachers felt could make a difference in motivating their students.

The Science Ambassadors are part of the California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) Minority University Mathematics, Science and Technology Awards for Teacher and Curriculum Enhancement Program (MASTAP) and is a joint effort between CSULA, Los Angeles Unified School District and Dryden. The workshop is part of a program that supports minority-serving institutions, seeks to increase the number of educators for teaching in hard-to-staff schools, and strengthens teachers' technical skills in mathematics, science and technology.

Some workshop highlights included touring the air crew life support shop, learning about the history of flight, and making space food and "flying" high-performance jets in aircraft simulators. Teachers also met flight crews who showed them their aircraft including the F/A-18 and the F/A-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW).

Kelsey Brown works on one of the many hands-on activities at the Science Ambassadors' Workshop. NASA Photo / Tom Tschida

Bob McElwain, life support technician, explained to teachers how he trains crewmembers, pilots, video/photo support personnel, and flight engineers in case of an in-flight emergency. He discussed proper steps for crew members and pilots to eject, emergency ground survival, parachute landing procedures, water survival and survival kits.

Professionals like Aerospace Distinguished Scientist Dale Reed talked about their work. Reed, who began his career as an aeronautical engineer in 1953, designed the Mini-Sniffer, a prototype Mars airplane with a special engine that used hydrazine as its fuel. However, he is best known as a key advocate of flight research of lifting body aircraft, such as the M2-F1, the first lightweight, unpowered lifting body that looked like a 'flying bathtub" and safely landed like an airplane. Nearly forty years later lifting bodies are still considered for the shape of future aerospace vehicles.

'We had a chance to interact with people that others may never have the opportunity to meet, like Dale Reed. He has a spirit that keeps this place alive," said teacher Gerardo Reyes from Norwood St. Elementary in Los Angeles. "His inspiration and his sense of fun makes me want to go back to my school and share how lucky I am to have come here."

Michelle Davis, aerospace education specialist and the Science Ambassador workshop coordinator at Dryden, informed teachers about the current developments on the International Space Station (ISS).

"We spent an entire day studying the ISS," Davis said. "We gave the participants background information so that when they go back to their classrooms they have the knowledge and are comfortable sharing it with their students. The ISS is an important part of what NASA is doing. The workshop was intended to show teachers how to encourage their students to think about careers and that one day they may be working on the ISS."

Valerie Melendrez makes an edible Wright Flyer out of graham crackers. NASA Photo / Tom Tschida

As teachers learned about the ISS, they imagined what it would be like to go to space. The workshop included NASA educational materials such as "Suited for Spacewalking," "Space Food and Nutrition," and "Microgravity" which are themed educator guides with ready-to-use lesson plans. They saw what it's like for astronauts to live in space, tried on a mock-up space suit and learned how the space station was built and how to view it at night.

Teachers surfed the Web and learned about NASA Web sites such as Spacelink (www.space link.nasa.gov), an aeronautics and space resources education site.

"I plan on making a NASA newsletter for the kids and send it home to their parents. In the newsletter it will have different Web sites and NASA-based information," said Paulette Donald from Crescent Heights Elementary in Los Angeles. "I work with diverse kids and I want to expose them to professionals that look like them and motivate them to think about their own future careers. Through the Web sites I will be able to accomplish that goal."

Jean Adenika-Morrow, NASA Dryden Science Ambassador's principal investigator for MASTAP at California State University, Los Angeles, is passionate about the program, the teachers and the students that the program aims to reach.

"In a child's life it takes one person who cares about them and teaches them something of value - usually a teacher or mentor. That child remembers the name of the person, what grade they were in and what they did for them. Any successful person has one," she said.

And the teachers at the workshop aspire to have that kind of influence with their students.

"I don't think a teacher can leave Dryden the same. I have students that are considered some of the most difficult. These are turned off kids that are scared, great kids who need guidance. My job is to make sure they leave my classroom with more confidence in themselves and the skills to help them fulfil their own dreams," said Layne Heiny from Hamilton High School in Los Angeles.

"I know when I get back to school they will be curious to know what I learned here. I will share with them all the stories that I heard, the activities, and the possibilities of what they can achieve if they have a dream and work towards it. These kids are so interested in the idea of space and I will adapt and mold activities that I learned here and use them in the classroom."

To view the virtual agenda and link to the teacher's workshop experience go to: /centers/dfrc/Education/Educator/Workshops/CalState/index.html

For information on Minority University Research and Education Division go to: http://mured.nasaprs.com/